Sermons (Page 99)

  Today’s readings were full of one central word: love. To my knowledge, there is only one other place that talks about love more than the church, and that’s pop music. As we step into the wedding season, we might see a couple slowly dance to Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” or we might dance to Rihanna’s “We Found Love,” or perhaps we’ll always remember Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love.”…

Jesus’s words are jarring to American culture. According to the “Hofstede cultural dimensions scale,” America is the most individualist country.[1] Individualism is taught from a young age when parents stress self-reliance with solitary sleeping, in comparison to the practice of co-sleeping in collectivist cultures. Playdates in individualistic countries are carefully interspersed with downtime to rest and recover, as opposed to the constant company within collectivist cultures. While individualistic cultures, like America, do not necessarily lead to solitary-living, relationships are weaker than in countries where collectivism is culturally dominate.[2] So, when we put our individualistic culture in conversation with today’s Gospel reading, it’s expected that we’ll feel uncomfortable…